


Beyond the Veil

by Fight_Surrender



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Carry On Countdown 2019, Carry On Countdown Day 11, Carry on Epilogue, Families of Choice, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Leavers Ball, Life beyond the veil, Lucy Ebb and Natasha get a happy ending, POV Ebb Petty, Post-Watford (Simon Snow), Watford (Simon Snow), Watford School of Magics, because they deserve one, leavers ceremony, parental figures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21707659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fight_Surrender/pseuds/Fight_Surrender
Summary: He’s here!” Lucy exclaims with wonder, her fingers touching her lips.I rub my hand up in down her back. “He’s a lovely boy, Lucy, you should be so proud. Saved the world of Mages, he did.”“So handsome, my sweet rosebud boy.” Her hand goes to her heart as tears glisten in her eyes. Lucy’s eyebrows go down, “why does he have wings? And a tail?”Ebb, Lucy and Natasha all died horribly in Carry On. I'm giving them a happy ending.
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Comments: 6
Kudos: 108
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2019





	Beyond the Veil

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet has been knocking around my head for a really long time. The Parental Figures prompt from the Carry On Countdown was the perfect opportunity to pull it out of my brain and into life. I really wanted Ebb, Lucy, and Natasha to find peace and happiness in the afterlife and to see that Simon and Baz are going to be ok. 
> 
> Eternal thanks to @artescapri for her epic beta read and advice and especially for giving me the last line that I was looking for to cap this fic. You are a gem. <3

**Ebb** :

It’s not so bad being dead.

Mistress Pitch found me and took me under her wing as soon as I crossed over, around five months ago. She was right furious when she learned that Davy’d been the one that killed me. Pacing back and forth she was, slinging curses. Magic is different here, we still have it, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. Just thunder and lightning, smoke and ice. Honestly, it was a bit nice to see her so riled up, like my death meant something. Like my life wasn’t a waste.

Life (such as it is) here beyond the veil is nice. There are different departments where you can volunteer if you want. Or you can do nothing all. You can sit around and read all day with a cat in your lap if that's what strikes your fancy. They’re everywhere here, dogs, cats, nanny goats, surprisingly friendly cattle, all kinds of creatures, it’s lovely, really. Natasha works at the department of spells. They get to decide what new phrases become spells and what old ones go away. Too much responsibility for me to bother with, but Nat loves it. Mostly I just wander around, maybe hang out with the goats. Sometimes I like to poke around the department of weather, stirring up thunderstorms for fun. Nothing too dangerous though. I leave the mayhem to others, I’ve had my share. 

Mistress Pitch (or Nat, as she insists I call her) has introduced me to Lucy Salisbury. She’s Simon’s mum. Can you believe that? That poor boy orphaned by his father’s terrible ambition. I suppose he wouldn’t be who he is without Davy’s interfering. But then again, maybe Simon could have been born without all that power. Without all that pain. A regular boy. A normal life. 

I loved Simon Snow like a son; he never quite fit in, like me. I did what I could to help him all those years at Watford. But in the end he was alone on that horrible night, against Davy and the Humdrum. All by himself, Simon versus the world. Saved the day he did, but at what cost?

Lucy is like Simon, a bright beam of sunshine. A gem. She plays rugby here, I like to watch.

My thoughts are interrupted as Natasha and Lucy take my hands. “Come on Ebb!” Nat’s eyes are sparkling. She’s lighter now, almost childlike. She laughs more easily, smiles more freely. Entirely different from the stern headmistress she was when I knew her at Watford. “The ceremony is starting!” Nat is practically giddy. I let myself be pulled back to the White Chapel. I won’t think about the last time I was there.

Everybody knows the Veil lifts every twenty years so the dead can visit the living. What they don’t know is that the Veil thins annually, at the end of Watford’s school year, for the Leaver’s Ceremony and Ball. I suppose so the dead can catch a glimpse of the future.

Lucy and I flank Natasha as we watch her son give his speech, each of us holding her hand. Tears are streaming down her lovely face and she looks positively radiant. I give her hand a squeeze. Nat lets go to wipe her eyes as she turns to me. “He’s using parts of my leaver’s speech. My heart is so full right now, Ebb.”

At a comment from Basilton, Nat laughs, her eyes sparkling. “I do miss those sour cherry scones,” she says with a warm smile.

“Oh those were ace!” Whispers Lucy, eyes wide. “I would eat those with great slabs of butter. They were my absolute favorite.”

“Shhhh,” Nat admonishes with a playful smirk, gently poking Lucy in the ribs. “My baby is speaking.”

“Yes, Mistress Pitch,” smiles Lucy, rolling her eyes and making a zipping motion across her lips.

As the ceremony ends, Natasha points to the crowd and says to Lucy, “That one there, the one snorting like a lunatic, is my little sister, Fiona. Bit of an anarchist, but very much a softy under all that prickly exterior. She’s the strength of the family, the heart and soul.” Nat places her hand on Lucy’s arm. “She would never admit it. She’d say I was the smart one, the success. But I just played it safe. Fiona lives life fiercely, on her own terms. There’s power in that too, she just doesn’t see it. Basil’s life is fuller, richer, better for having her in it and not me.”

“Well that’s a bit depressing,” I snort, giving Nat a light shove.

“Seriously,” Nat retorts. “At that time, I was all about following the rules, keeping up appearances. I may very well have killed my son, knowing he’d been Turned.” She smoothes her long black hair, “it was the right thing to do. Pitches always do what must be done.”

I put my arm around Natasha’s neck, “Love, I’m so sorry. You’re a different person now. I know you’d never do that.”

Nat cocks her eyebrow at me, “Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty when you’re dead isn’t it?”

I bark a laugh, “Crowley, you’re morbid.”

“Ladies, I hate to go, but I have an appointment,” says Nat airily “Shall we meet up for the leavers ball?”

“What are you on about?” Lucy says quizzically. “There aren’t appointments this side of the Veil.”

“I’ve a meeting with my son,” responds Nat as she wanders away. “See you in a bit.”

***

“He’s here!” Lucy exclaims with wonder, her fingers touching her lips.

I rub my hand up in down her back. “He’s a lovely boy, Lucy, you should be so proud. Saved the world of Mages, he did.”

“So handsome, my sweet rosebud boy.” Her hand goes to her heart as tears glisten in her eyes. Lucy’s eyebrows go down, “Why does he have wings? And a tail?”

“I think it had something to do with the saving of the world of Mages,” Natasha appears, sliding an arm around Lucy’s waist. “It certainly gives him a bit of flair, doesn’t it?” Nat looks happy but a little tired.

“I’m not sure anyone else can see them,” Lucy observes.

“Basil does,” says Natasha. “He just wrapped Simon’s tail around his wrist. Are they friends now? I thought they were enemies?”

“Well,” I say, “They’ve certainly had their share of altercations over the years. But I’ve had my suspicions.”

“What do you mean?” Natasha tilts her head at me. Lucy looks curious.

“Those boys are obsessed with each other, far beyond any simple rivalry.” I raise my eyebrows and look between Nat and Lucy, cracking a wicked grin. “Blimey, you could cut the sexual tension between those two with a knife.”

Lucy widens her eyes and covers her ears in mock horror, “I can’t think of my baby and sex in the same sentence, Ebb. Gross.”

“Shut your mouth,” Nat says, trying to fix her grin into a scowl. “My boy is innocent and loves only his mother.”

“Yeah, okay,” I say, motioning at Simon and Baz. “Well, your innocent babies are currently snogging their faces off on the dance floor.”

“So, _friends_ then,” Nat said, sliding her arms around my and Lucy’s waists, her lips pulled up in a warm smile.

We stay for a bit, watching the boys dance.

“If they get married, we could be sisters,” says Lucy, planting a kiss on Natasha’s cheek.

“We’re already sisters, us three” Natasha says. “Joined by our love for these wayward boys.” She pulls Lucy and me into a hug and places a kiss to each of our temples.

Lucy raises her head for a last look at the boys, “You know, I’m really surprised they don’t have sandwiches.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading. Feel free to come say hi on Tumblr, I'm Fight-Surrender over there.


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